Mohammad Alipour Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz Branch

One of the most difficult decisions in writing is deciding on the types of exercises that will be used. The issue is how to create exercises that engage learners in the use of skills and processes related to specific language teaching objectives. A review of the exercise types used in current commercial textbooks is a good starting point.

Materials writing projects are of different scopes and dimensions. Some may be the responsibility of an individual teacher; others may be assigned to a team of writers.

The management of a team-based writing project involves addressing the following issues: Selecting the project team: how many people will take part in the project and what will their roles and responsibilities be? In a small in-house project there may be two or three writers sharing responsibilities for all aspects of the project, however, the following people might be involved: Project director: responsible for overall management of the project, for setting goals and ensuring that targets are met, and for liaising with all parties involved. Writers: those responsible for writing all components of the course.

 Media specialist: a person who can help with such aspects of audiovisual materials and computer softwares.  Editor: a person who reviews everything the writers have produced and prepares the final version of the materials for publication or duplication.  Illustrator: someone responsible for preparing illustrations.  Designer: a person who is responsible for the layout, type, style, graphics, and the overall format of the materials.

A materials project always goes through several different stages of development. Typical stages might include: First draft Comments on the first draft Second draft Further comments Tryout of the materials Final revision of materials

These processes are not necessarily linear. Carey and Briggs (1977) comment: “Many activities occur simultaneously, and one often works one part of a product through a phase of design and then cycles back and begins the same phase again with another part of the product.”

A crucial source of input to the developmental process is critical feedback on materials as they are written. A key person is someone who can cast a critical eye over the materials as they are drafted and provide constructive feedback on them. People involved in a materials writing project should be open to feedback and suggestions and be prepared to undertake extensive revisions of materials if necessary. Things that seem perfectly obvious to the writer may not strike another person in the same way.

In commercial projects, this role is undertaken by editors and reviewers. In institutional projects, this responsibility needs to be assigned to a member of the project team. It is also useful to involve the participation of classroom teachers in the process to review materials as they are written. Focus groups can also be set up consisting of five or six experienced teachers who meet to discuss the materials in progress and give suggestions for improving them.

A writing schedule can now be developed with dates assigned for the different stages in the process. Even though aspects of the writing process are often critical, as noted, for practical planning purposes the different stages in the writing process need to be represented within a tentative time frame.

Piloting involves trying out materials with a representative group of learners and teachers before they are made available for wider use in order to identify problems or faults in them that can be identified before they are used more widely.

Piloting seeks to find answers to questions such as these: Are the materials comprehensible and the instructions clear? Do they contain any editorial or content errors? Is the pacing of the materials appropriate? Do the materials do what they are supposed to do? Do they address learners’ needs? Is there sufficient quantity of practice materials? Are the materials sufficiently interesting and engaging?

 The intention is to have a group of teachers and students work through the materials in conditions as close as possible to those under which the final version of the materials will be used.  However, it is often not impossible to pilot materials a near-final form, because art and design may await finalization of the manuscript.  A practical solution is to have sections of the materials piloted by different teachers rather than have a few teachers try out all of the materials. This can speed up the piloting process and enable more teachers to participate.  Following the piloting, both students and teachers complete a review sheet or questionnaire and may also be interviewed to find out what they think about the materials.  Any problems identified can be addressed at this stage. In some cases, this may involve a substantial rewriting of the materials.

Design issues refer to the layout of text and art on each page. An effective design is a major factor in the reception and usability of materials. Will art and illustrations be added to the manuscript and who will be responsible for these? Production issues relate to the printing of the materials. Will the materials be printed from the writers’ files, reset, photocopied, laser printed, or sent to a commercial printer?

No matter what form of materials teachers make use of, whether they teach from textbook, instructional materials, or teacher-prepared materials, the materials present plans for teaching. They do not represent the process of teaching itself. As teachers use materials, they adapt and transform them to suit the needs of particular groups of learners and their own teaching styles.

These processes of transformation are at the heart of teaching and enable good teachers to create effective lessons out of the resources they make use of. It is useful, therefore, to collect information on how teachers use course books and other teaching materials in their teaching.

The information collected can serve the following purposes: To document effective ways of using materials To provide feedback on how materials work To keep a record of additions, deletions, and supplementary materials Teachers may have used with the materials To assist other teachers in using the materials

Observation: classroom visits to see how teachers use materials and to find out how materials influence the quality of teaching and interaction that occurs in a lesson. Feedback sessions: group meetings in which teachers discuss their experience with materials. Written reports: the use of reflection sheets or other forms of written feedback in which teachers make brief notes about what worked well and what did not work well, or give suggestions on using the materials.

Review: written reviews by a teacher or a group of teachers on their experiences with a set materials and what they liked or disliked about them. Students’ review: comments from students on their experience with the materials.